Home > Authors and editors

Heimo Mikkola

University of Eastern Finland

Heimo Mikkola received his PhD degree in Applied Zoology and Limnology from the University of Kuopio, Finland. Since 1988, he has been an adjunct Professor of the Eastern Finland University through which he has lately been a part-time visiting professor in the Kazakh National Agrarian University in Almaty lecturing on fisheries and aquaculture to Master’s level students and on Green Biotechnology and Global Food Security to all university teachers. Before and in between his university career, he has worked abroad for well over 30 years in Africa, South America and Central and Southeast Asia mainly with the African Development Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). During these years, he had an excellent free time opportunity to visit and study owls in over 130 countries of the world. Owl studies often took him to the best bat biotopes as well, and he started to collect data on bats eaten by owls. In 2014, he was given the title “Champion of Owls” in Houston, USA, mainly because of his six worldwide distributed and translated owl books.

6books edited

7chapters authored

Latest work with IntechOpen by Heimo Mikkola

This book has nine chapters on Aquaculture Wetland Ecosystem Services Approach and Climate Change Adaptation, which explain how different aquaculture systems could maximize the benefits that society receives from both aquaculture production and the ecosystem services provided by wetland ecosystems. Sustainable development of aquaculture must take into account the societal value of ecosystem services for an efficient and environmentally sound production of food. Although some issues regarding the potential benefits and implementation of sustainable aquaculture remain, the consideration of food security and minimizing ecosystem impacts suggest that the time has come to take action. If we can efficiently farm the land, why can’t we farm more the sea and inland waters?

Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Modern WorldEdited by Heimo Mikkola

Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Modern World

Edited by Heimo Mikkola

Books edited

Future FoodsEdited by Heimo Mikkola

Future Foods

Edited by Heimo Mikkola

BatsEdited by Heimo Mikkola

Bats

Edited by Heimo Mikkola

SeabirdsEdited by Heimo Mikkola

Seabirds

Edited by Heimo Mikkola

Edible InsectsEdited by Heimo Mikkola

Edible Insects

Edited by Heimo Mikkola

OwlsEdited by Heimo Mikkola

Owls

Edited by Heimo Mikkola

Chapters authored

Implication of Alien Species Introduction to Loss of Fish Biodiversity and Livelihoods on Issyk-Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan

By Heimo Mikkola

Part of the book: Biodiversity Enrichment in a Diverse World

Introductory Chapter: Bats Eaten by Owls

By Heimo Mikkola

Part of the book: Bats

Introductory Chapter: Seabird Occurrence in the Open Arctic Sea during the Breeding Season

By Heimo Mikkola

Part of the book: Seabirds

Owl Beliefs in Kyrgyzstan and Some Comparison with Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Turkmenistan

By Heimo Mikkola

So far the Central Asian owl beliefs have not been well studied. As I have had opportunities to live and visit some countries regularly since 2009, it became possible to study owl beliefs mainly in Kyrgyzstan but also comparing some findings with Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Turkmenistan. In Kyrgyzstan, 124 persons were interviewed in 2010: 82 males and 42 females. Age of respondents varied from 12 to over 60 and all lived in the capital area of the country. Half of the respondents listed owls as wise and 43% just as a bird, and nobody saw the owl as a bird bringing bad luck. On the contrary, 34% believed that owls are helpful and bring good luck. Kazakhstan shares a Central Asian veneration of owls. Eurasian eagle owl feathers are used as precious amulets protecting children and livestock from evil spirits. The main reason why so many Mongolian people hold the owl to be sacred could be the history that the owl once saved the life of Genghis Khan, king of kings and supreme Khan of all the Mongols and Kalmyks in Tartary Empire. For the Turkmens, the little owl is a sacred bird, killing of which would be a great sin.

Part of the book: Owls

Introductory Chapter: Is the Insect Food Boom over or when it Will Start?

By Heimo Mikkola

Part of the book: Edible Insects

Introductory Chapter: Why the Number of Owl Species in the World Continues Increasing?

By Heimo Mikkola

Part of the book: Owls

A Review of European Owls as Predators of Bats

By Alan Sieradzki and Heimo Mikkola

Fossil evidence indicates that owls have been preying on bats from as far back as the Pleistocene. Overall, bats form quite small portions (i.e. trace to 0.2%) of the diets (by prey frequency) of European owls. An assessment of dietary studies and anecdotal accounts reveals that five species of European owls, the Eurasian scops owl Otus scops, Pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum, Tengmalm’s owl Aegolius funereus, little owl Athene noctua and Ural owl Strix uralensis, rarely feed on bats (with less than 0.1−0.4%) and a further two species, short-eared owl Asio flammeus and eagle owl Bubo bubo, may only take bats occasionally, while three species, long-eared owl Asio otus, barn owl Tyto alba and tawny owl Strix aluco, feed on bats more frequently. In this study, a total of 19,864 recorded bats have been preyed upon by these owls, with as many as 48 bat species being identified. Barn and tawny owls have captured most of this total (47.1 and 41.9%), followed by the long-eared owl (7.6%), while short-eared and eagle owls take similar amounts of bats (1.1 and 1.7%, respectively). Owl predation on bats deserves future research because it may help contribute to our knowledge on bat biodiversity and distribution and possibly identify an additional risk for small populations of endangered bats.

Part of the book: Owls

View all chapters

Related collaborators

Guilherme Fernando Gomes Destro

Suzane Fank-De-Carvalho

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil

Jing Tan

Gabriella Buffa

Edy Fantinato

Leonardo Pizzo

Maria Salete Marchioretto

Sônia Nair Báo

Raquel Monti Sabaini

Roberto Cabral Borges